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The Royal Flush of Content: The Writer as Queen—Part 1

November 8, 2011 By 1 Comment

Went to three conferences last week, which is why you haven’t heard from me.  Storyworld which was about transmedia–telling the same story across different media platforms; the PublishersLaunch conference about E-books; and the New Media Festival. They were all excellent, and I will tell you more about them. But in this post and the next two, my overall
impressions and takeaways with great news for writers.

The accelerating revolution in communication made possible by technology in the hands of the growing number of people around the world is transforming the world. Intel CEO Paul Otellini says that “Computing is undergoing the most remarkable transformation since the inventions of the PC. The innovation of the next decade is going to outstrip the innovation of the last three combined.” By 2020, there will be 15 billion mobile Web-enabled devices. Anywhere, anytime access to all information and entertainment, along with the ability to communicate about content and collaborate on it are a writer’s dream.

Mike Shatzkin, the visionary co-founder of Publishers Launch, writes “The Shatzkin File,” a blog that’s essential reading. Mike believes that the age of top-down broadcasting, whether
it’s four television networks or six publishing conglomerates, is dying. The creation and success of content will be bottom up. Audiences will help create content and share what they love. Content will be Queen.

But because of word of mouse that can go viral, community will be King. Crowdsourcing ideas and responses to your work will help ensure you write what your fans want to read. You will still have to trust your instincts and common sense, and use what works and forget the rest. But your success will depend on your readers’ fingertips and the tips of their tongues. Engaging your community by connecting with them as often and in as many ways as you can will be essential to building your career. Writing helps build community; maintaining your community helps builds a career.

Are you ready for an easy-to-use smart TV that has all of the stations in the world? It was Steve Jobs’ vision, and it’s in the works. Theater attendance is declining, in part because we’re already starting to live with three screens: a computer/tablet, a smart phone, and a television. MTV viewers watch all three simultaneously, so MTV is providing three screens with different content about the same show. Viewers can use split screens if they wish and will soon able to move what’s on one screen to another.

Adapting stories you can tell in movies and on television, computers/tablets, and smartphones as well as in books, games, and three-minute webisodes is the promise of transmedia, and it’s starting to happen. Audiences want great stories, but they use different media to enjoy them. The challenge is to create scalable stories that can be repurposed in as many ways as possible. But you can still write that first draft with a No. 2 Ticonderoga, so have at it!

The rest of the Royal Flush of Information: Marketing will be the Jack, and passion will be the Ten. The Ace? Control of Content. More about that and why all you need is an audience of one in the next post. I’m thinking about the rest of the deck, but the cards are stacked in your favor.

[Formatting anomalies not in draft. Suggestions welcome.]

I write the blog to help us both understand what we need to know about writing, publishing, promotion, and agents. I hope you find it worth reading and sharing. Rants, comments, questions, corrections, and ideas for posts greatly appreciated.

The 9th San Francisco Writers Conference / A Celebration of Craft, Commerce & Community / February 16-20, 2012 / www.sfwriters.org / sfwriterscon@aol.com / http://sfwriters.org/blog / @SFWC / www.facebook.com/SanFranciscoWritersConference / 415-673-0939 / 1029 Jones Street / San Francisco, 94109 / San
Francisco Writers University / Where Writers Meet and You Learn / Laurie McLean, Dean / free classes / www.sfwritersu.com / sfwritersu@gmail.com / @SFWritersU

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Filed Under: Book Publishing, Technology and Writers, Writing Fiction, Writing for Change, Writing Nonfiction Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

A Nonfiction Writer’s Audition for Our Agency

October 21, 2011 By 2 Comments

Every word in a nonfiction proposal has to be right. The sample chapter has to be as enjoyable to read as it is informative. The proposal has to generate as much excitement as possible
in as few words as possible. But even that may be a small part of the challenge for arousing the interest of agents.

Here is what I email to new nonfiction writers who want to submit a proposal to our agency. I hope it gives you a perspective on what it takes to excite New York publishers about books from new writers:

A book is like an iceberg: Writing is 10%; marketing is 90%. –Chicken Souperman Jack Canfield

Many thanks for writing about your book. Somebody is going to publish it. Out of necessity, our goal is to sell books to New York houses, and they want writers with a platform and a strong promotion plan. So the challenge is to maximize the value of your book before you sell it. Because it’s harder for publishers to launch new authors, publishers want authors who are ready to launch themselves. As agent Rita Rosenkranz says, publishers aren’t buying promise, they’re buying proof. Because we can usually tell from a platform and a plan if we can help a writer, that’s where we like to start.

The plan in your proposal will follow “The Author’s Platform,” a list in descending order of impressiveness of what you have done and are doing, online and off–including numbers when
possible–to give yourself and the subject of your book continuing visibility with potential book buyers. A plan shows how you will use your platform to sell books. Editors won’t believe a plan unless it makes sense based on what the author is already doing.

Your plan starts under the subhead “Promotion” and begins like this: “To promote the book, the author will:…” This is followed by a bulleted list of what you will do, online and off, in
descending order of impressiveness, and when appropriate, how many of them. Begin each part of the list with a verb.

Numbers are very important to publishers. For example, having a blog and writing “Will give talks” won’t help. Publishers will want to know how many people read your blog and how many talks you’ll give and to how many people, which, again, has to be based on what you’re already doing.

If one of your goals is being published by a New York house, you’re welcome to email me just your title followed by your platform and promotion plan, written
as I’ve suggested, in the body of a letter, not as an attachment, followed by your query letter, whenever they’re ready. Regard your ability to follow these suggestions is a compatability test. Please call me at 415-673-0939, Monday to Thursday, 11 AM-4 PM, California time, if you have questions.

If you haven’t already done so already, please check the helpful information www.larsenpomada.com. My book, How to Write a Book Proposal has more information about promotion and building a platform.

If I can’t help you as an agent now, our site describes how I may be able to help you as a consultant.

Hope we can help.

Mike Larsen

 

If your goal is to be bpublished by a small or midsized house outside of New York, you may not need this ammunition to sell your book, and these publishers buy books directly from writers.  But it’s important for you to find books and authors to use as models for your literary and financial goals. Go for it!

I write the blog to help us both understand what we need to know about writing, publishing, promotion, and agents. I hope you find it worth reading and sharing. Rants, comments, questions, corrections, and ideas for posts greatly appreciated.

The 9th San Francisco Writers Conference / A Celebration of Craft, Commerce & Community / February 16-20, 2012 / www.sfwriters.org / sfwriterscon@aol.com / http://sfwriters.org/blog / @SFWC / www.facebook.com/SanFranciscoWritersConference / 415-673-0939 / 1029 Jones Street / San Francisco, 94109

San Francisco Writers University / Where Writers Meet and You Learn / Laurie McLean, Dean / free classes / www.sfwritersu.com / sfwritersu@gmail.com / @SFWritersU

 

 

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Filed Under: Book Promotion, Getting a Book Published, Literary Agents, Writing for Change, Writing Nonfiction Tagged With: , , , ,

Collaboration: The 7th C to Becoming a Successful Writer in a Hyper-Connected World

October 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Elizabeth and I just got back from two weeks in France, which gave me the chance to read one of the most important bestsellers of this young century: That Used to Be Us: How America Fell Behind in the World It Invented and How We Can Come Back by Thomas Friedman and Michael Mandelbaum. It provides a comprehensive perspective on America’s four largest problems and how to update our five-step formula for national greatness so we can play the role only America can and for which the world depends on us.

The World at Your Fingertips

One reason the book is essential for writers is its vision of a hyper-connected world. Two billion people are already on the Web, many using the 4.5 billion cell phones for the planet’s 6.8
billion people. Smartphones explode your potential for connecting, creating, and collaborating. They are already transforming the world. You can get online on the top of Mt. Everest. By the end of the decade, most of the people on the planet will have smartphones that will be even more amazing at delivering all media all the time anywhere.

You are writing for a hyper-connected world. This offers you vast opportunities for reaching a growing worldwide audience in as many forms, media, and countries as you wish. To be a successful writer in a hyper-connected world, you need to be a one-person, multimedia, multinational conglomerate. This requires a large continually growing team of collaborators,
online and off. In Part 4 of my six posts on “The 6 Cs for Becoming a Successful Writer in the Digital Age,” I mentioned collaboration in the section on “Contentpreneuring.” But reading That Used to Be Us made me appreciate how essential collaborating is to every part of the writing and publishing process and why its importance will continue to grow. I think we will see more authors, like Friedman and Mandelbaum, collaborate to take advantage of both their combined craft, creativity, and ability to promote their work, and the growing opportunities to profit from it, but most authors will continue to write their books alone.

9 Ways Collaborate on Your Success

Once you finish your manuscript or proposal, the rest of the process requires collaborating with

  • early readers, a critique group, or a freelance editor
  • an agent, if you use one, on prepping and selling your book
  • an editor on preparing, publishing, and promoting your book
  • the rest of the house on your book’s success
  • your communities of fans, writers, and publishing professionals on building word of mouth and mouse
  • the media to develop effective appearances
  • co-agents to help you sell the subsidiary rights you keep, such as film and foreign rights that create more opportunities for collaboration
  • pros who can help you develop your book for other media such as apps, if you have electronic rights
  • organizations that can offer you speaking engagements

You and your communities will help each other. You can barter for goods and services, partner with professionals, and hire virtual assistants. Be creative and resourceful in choosing the best people and tools to get a job done. Don’t feel overwhelmed by the challenges, just do your best, and you’ll get better at it, and benefit from your efforts.  Collaborating will be a continual learning process, but the Web has opened a world of possibilities, and I hope you will make the most of them.

(A money-back guarantee: If you read That Used to Be Us and feel I wasted your time, I will happily refund what you pay for it. Just send the receipt and tell me where I went wrong.)

[Formatting anomalies not in draft. Suggestions welcome.]

The 9th San Francisco Writers Conference / A Celebration of Craft, Commerce & Community /February 16-20, 2012 / www.sfwriters.org / sfwriterscon@aol.com /415-673-0939 / http://sfwriters.org/blog / @SFWC / http://www.facebook.com/pages/San-Francisco-Writers-Conference/112732798786104 / 1029 Jones St. / San Francisco, CA 94109 / San Francisco Writers University / Where Writers Meet and You Learn / Laurie McLean, Dean / free classes / www.sfwritersu.com / sfwritersu@gmail.com / @SFWritersU

 

 

 

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Filed Under: Book Promotion, Getting a Book Published, Technology and Writers, Writing Fiction, Writing for Change, Writing Nonfiction Tagged With: , , , , ,

Adding Yang to Your Yin: Transforming Yourself from a Writer into an Author

September 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Time was when you could write a book, and if it was effective enough, and you were lucky because of the timing of its publication, what your publisher did to promote it, the reviews it garnered, and the word of mouth it generated, it would become a bestseller. Those days are long gone. Now there are more good books and authors, more competing media,
and more ways to spend one’s free time and discretionary income than ever.

Writing starts with yin: the feminine, creative part of your personality. You’re in your cave writing your book or proposal. However, when you’re ready to share your work, you have to summon your yang: the masculine warrior that’s willing to take on the world to get published and succeed. This requires

  • a different perspective: that of a merchant not an author–an author with something to
    sell, not a writer with something to say
  • a different set of skills. Writers have to be able to read, come up with ideas, research, write, and get feedback on their work. Authors have to

–build communities and communicate with them

–make themselves visible to book buyers by test-marketing their work

–nurture their babies through the birthing process of publication

–promote their books

  • a different mindset from that of a creative person fearful of failure and craving acceptance to that of a contentpreneur who takes responsibility for and has confidence in the book and its success

Novelists tend to be more yin than yang, happier at their desks than out in the world. Nonfiction writers deal with information, so they’re more comfortable charging ahead and enlisting
the help they need.

You’ve seen the image of yin and yang; it’s on the South Korean flag. We are all inextricably composed of both elements, each of us a unique blend of masculine and feminine, light and darkness, active and passive. You need to draw on both parts of yourself to succeed. Balancing your inclinations with the necessities of your calling will be one of the keys to your success.

In his brilliant book, The Alphabet Versus the Goddess, Leonard Shlain envisioned the movement of culture from the word to the image, from print to screen, which is transforming culture from yang to yin, from patriarchal to matriarchal. Let’s hope that, with your help, it happens in time to save us from the follies of yang run amuck. Meanwhile, balancing your yin and yang will help ensure your personal and professional success.

I write the blog to help you and me understand what we need to know about writing, publishing, promotion, and agents. I hope you find it worth reading and sharing.

Rants, comments, questions, and corrections greatly appreciated.

The 9th San Francisco Writers Conference / A Celebration of Craft, Commerce & Community / February 16-20, 2012 / www.sfwriters.org / sfwriterscon@aol.com / http://sfwriters.org/blog / @SFWC / www.facebook.com/SanFranciscoWritersConference / 415-673-0939 / 1029 Jones Street / San Francisco, 94109 / San
Francisco Writers University / Where Writers Meet and You Learn / Laurie  McLean, Dean / free classes / www.sfwritersu.com / sfwritersu@gmail.com / @SFWritersU

[Formatting anomalies not in draft.]

 

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Filed Under: Getting a Book Published, Writing Fiction, Writing for Change, Writing Nonfiction Tagged With: ,

From Content to Contentpreneuring: 6 Cs for Becoming a Successful Writer in the Digital Age—Part 6

September 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The first five C words in the new model for becoming a successful writer in the digital age are Content, Clarity, Communication, Contentpreneuring, and Commitment. The last word is Celebration.

6. Celebration

The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.

–Oprah Winfrey

Speaker and author Roger Crawford says that every day he wakes up and there’s not a white chalk line around his body is a great day. Most of us have more reasons to celebrate than we take the time to do it.

  • Being alive
  • having a subject or story you’re passionate about
  • being able to write
  • finding the time to do it
  • reaching readers around the world with your fingertips
  • having more ways to get published, promote  your work, and profit from it than ever

These are all reasons to jump up and
down and shout hurrah. So celebrate achievements, large and small, with those
who help you on a scale with what you accomplish. The prospect of celebrating
will help keep you going. Add luck to the six Cs, and your books will be
fail-proof.

Two bonuses: you can adapt this model for other professions and your personal life.

Content, Clarity, Communication, Contentpreneuring, Commitment, and Celebration. Those are “The 6 Cs for Becoming a Successful Author in the Digital Age.” You’ll need all of them to succeed as an author and a human being.

After forty-four years as a publishing executive, reviewer, author, speaker, teacher, agent, and co-director of a conference, this is what I know that can help you. It’s been said that we teach
what we want to learn. I wish I had known and followed this advice when it could have made me the best writer I could have been.

Now this is not an excuse you can use. I hope you will find it worth referring to when you need encouragement. If it convinces you that writing is not your calling, it liberates you to find what is. But I hope writing is your passion. The world will never have too many good ideas or writers. Readers will welcome you the moment you’re ready to inform, enlighten, inspire, or entertain them.

Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand—and melting like a snowflake.

–Sir Francis Bacon

Onward!

This model draws on material from previous posts and my books How to Write a Book Proposal and How to Get a Literary Agent. The six Cs will continue to evolve, in part because of your response to them, for which I will be grateful.

I write the blog to help you and me understand what we need to know about writing, publishing, promotion, and agents. Rants, comments, and questions welcome.

The 9th San Francisco Writers Conference / A Celebration of Craft, Commerce & Community / February 16-20, 2012 / www.sfwriters.org / sfwriterscon@aol.com / http://sfwriters.org/blog / @SFWC / 1029 Jones Street / San Francisco, 94109  / www.facebook.com/SanFranciscoWritersConference / 415-673-0939 / San Francisco Writers University / Where Writers Meet and You Learn / Laurie McLean, Dean / free classes / www.sfwritersu.com / sfwritersu@gmail.com / @SFWritersU

 

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Filed Under: Getting a Book Published, Writing Fiction, Writing for Change, Writing Nonfiction Tagged With: ,

From Content to Contentpreneuring: 6 Cs for Becoming a Successful Author in the Digital Age–Part 5

September 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The first four C words in the new model for becoming a successful writer in the digital age are Content, Clarity, Communication, and Contentpreneuring. The fifth word is Commitment. The eight aspects of Commitment are Discipline, Balance, Faith, Courage, Patience, Commitment, Simplicity, and Love.

5. Commitment

Discipline

William Faulkner once said: “I write when the spirit moves, and I make sure it moves every day.” Plan your workday and have the discipline to follow it. Even a page a day is a book a year. Time is more important than money. You don’t own time, yet it’s the most precious, irreplaceable thing you have.

The poet John Dryden once wrote: “Good habits are worth being fanatical about.” Stick to the most productive ways to spend your time. Use every day as wisely as you can, keeping your long-range goals in mind, and the weeks, months, and years will take care of themselves.

Balance

At a time of accelerating change plunging us unprepared into an unknowable but problematic future, you need to balance

  • writing, promotion, building your platform, and communicating with your communities
  • your time online and off
  • desire and necessity
  • the trade-offs in any decision you make
  • change and stability
  • making a living and making a life

Ignoring distractions and doing justice to all of the parts of your life while maintaining your focus on what’s most important to you will be a constant challenge.

Faith

You must have faith in yourself, your idea, your work, and your ability to succeed until the world validates your belief. Faith will give you the resilience, optimism, and sense of humor you
need to carry on.

Courage

When it keeps you from walking into traffic, fear is good. When fear prevents you from becoming who you were born to be, it’s bad. You can’t let fear of failure or success stop you from fulfilling your destiny as a writer. But you do have to expect to encounter failure. Someone once said: “If at first you don’t succeed, you’re about average.” The path to success leads through failure. Whether it’s walking or writing, you learn to do things right by making mistakes.

I once got a fortune in a Chinese fortune cookie that read: “When you’re not afraid to do it wrong the first time, you’ll eventually get it right.” Keep learning from your models,  mentors, and mistakes, and success is inevitable.

Being a writer takes courage. Winston Churchill wrote that courage is the first of human qualities because it guarantees all the others. You can’t have courage without fear, which is why we
have both.

  • Facing a blank screen and believing you have something worth writing
  • Persevering despite rejection, negative responses from readers, and perhaps poor sales
  • Overcoming obstacles

It takes courage to meet these challenges, but I promise you have what it takes, and the harder the struggle, the sweeter the success.

Patience

Do not fear going forward slowly, fear only to stand still.

–Chinese proverb

Books used to be the beginning of the information stream. Authors wrote books and then promoted them, one reason most books fail. Now if you want to be published by a New York house, you need patience. Marketing guru Seth Godin says: ”The best time to start promoting a book is three years before it comes out.” It may take that long to

  • write your manuscript
  • build a platform while test-marketing your book
  • create the strongest promotion plan and develop the ability to carry it out

So you have to take the long view. Look at your career not as one book but a lifetime of books—each new one better and more lucrative than the previous one. It doesn’t matter where you are now in your career, only that you’re headed in the right direction.

Commitment

If there is no struggle, there is no progress.

–Frederick Douglass, writer and abolitionist

In the making of ham and eggs, do you know what the difference is between the pig and the chicken? The chicken is involved, but the pig is committed. You are the most important factor in your success. Your book is your baby. No one cares as much about it as you do. So you have to be committed to your book, your craft, and your career. Like people in other creative fields, you have to pay your dues. If you think being a writer is hard, try being an actor or dancer.

There’s a cartoon showing a man and a woman, sitting on a couch talking, and the man is saying: “Look, I’m not talking about a lifetime commitment. I’m talking about marriage.” Life is a
do-it-yourself job. Being a successful writer requires a lifetime commitment.

You can be a successful author, but success doesn’t come in cans, only wills, the will to write and to do what it takes for as long as it takes to reach your goals. I hope you will commit yourself to becoming the best writer you can be, not just for yourself, but for all of us.

Simplicity

The complex demands of creating harmony between

  • being a lifelong learner in a rapidly changing 24/7/365 global village
  • being an artist as well as a multimedia, multinational conglomerate of one
  • and having a satisfying personal life

force you to simplify your life as much as you can. Avoid media, people, pursuits, and possessions that don’t help you reach your goals.

Love

Gloria Steinem once said: “[Success is] doing what you love and having a positive impact on people’s lives without starving to death.” If you want to be the best writer and author you can be, you must love the process. You have to

  • love to read, write, and communicate about your work
  • write out of love for your readers
  • love the challenges of becoming a better writer and communicator

Write out of what is best in you for what is best in your readers. The love you send into the world through your work, your relationships, and your contributions to your communities will come back to you and provide a profoundly satisfying life, regardless of how much you earn.

This model draws on material from previous posts and my books How to Write a Book Proposal and How to Get a Literary Agent. It will continue to evolve, in part because of your
response to it, for which I will be grateful. I write the blog to help you and me understand what we need to know about writing, publishing, promotion, and agents.

Rants, comments, questions, and corrections greatly appreciated.

The 9th San Francisco Writers Conference / A Celebration of Craft, Commerce & Community / February 16-20, 2012 / www.sfwriters.org / sfwriterscon@aol.com / http://sfwriters.info/blog / @SFWC / 1029 Jones Street / San Francisco, 94109 /  www.facebook.com/SanFranciscoWritersConference / 415-673-0939 / San Francisco Writers
University / Where Writers Meet and You Learn / Laurie McLean, Dean / free classes / www.sfwritersu.com / sfwritersu@gmail.com / @SFWritersU

 

 

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Filed Under: Getting a Book Published, San Francisco Writers Conference, Writing Fiction, Writing for Change, Writing Nonfiction Tagged With: , , , , ,
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